Sawyer County judge takes on assault case

A Burnett County case against a man accused of being a serial rapist will now take place in Sawyer County.

Craig Allen Mehtala, 28, of Superior faces felony charges of second-degree sexual assault and battery for a 2006 attack in Burnett County.

He made his initial appearance before Burnett County Judge Kenneth Kutz on Oct. 28. The following week, Mehtala filed a request the case be heard by a different judge. Tuesday, Sawyer County Judge Gerald Wright was assigned to the case.

No hearings have been scheduled before Judge Wright at this time.

Mehtala faces three additional second degree sexual assault charges in Douglas County stemming from three separate attacks on three victims in Superior this summer.

A status conference for that case is set for Dec. 18.

In all four of the assaults, a woman walking alone in the early hours of the morning was attacked from behind by a stranger. DNA evidence taken by police during investigation of the most recent assault in Superior linked the case to the unsolved 2006 assault in Burnett County, according to criminal complaints in both cases.

Mehtala remains in custody in the Burnett County Jail. Cash bail was set at $10,000 in the Douglas County case and a signature bond of $25,000 was ordered in the Burnett County case.

Tags: sawyer county, community, superior, mehtala, courts